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Friday, August 22, 2014

Yesterday, I posted a drawing of my new (pre-owned) espresso machine. Today I made my first latte with it for my new RA and a friend. I love making coffee for people. I don't know how often I will be able to have so much leisure to make lattes for friends and sit sipping them in the sun of my dorm. But before school starts it is good and nice.

Like I said yesterday I just moved into my new dorm room. Today it was finally time to try out the espresso machine which I purchased at a second-hand store for six dollars. Laura, my new roommate, and I lugged it down to the kitchen to try it out using the assistance of the old-looking instructional video we found on YouTube.

It worked like a dream. Laura suggested that we name the machine, because her Kuerig machine has a name. The name is Craig. That name makes me think of a song I know about Jesus's bad-news brother Craig Christ. But the song has several F-words, so I do not think I shall provide a link.

ANYWAY, Laura suggested that my espresso have a female Italian name. We toyed around with several until "Brunela" was suggested. This has the appeal of a slight coffee-related pun. (BREW-nela, get it?)

But then Laura felt that the name Brunela had "too many subtle hints of Bruce". She felt the name sounded too similar to the name Bruce.

This cracked me up because I pictured Laura at a wine tasting throwing out that line in response to a fine wine, "Hmmm, it has a good nose but too many subtle hints of Bruce."

Thursday, August 21, 2014

I love Elton John. "Tiny Dancer" is one of my favourite songs. This evening was my second-to-last ever shift working at my coffee shop. I had trouble enjoying it, because I was so tired and sore from moving day. (I moved out of my rented room and back onto college campus) Even though my two friends helped do most of the heavy lifting, I was still up cleaning and zooming around from early morning onwards. By the time my closing shift came around I was already pretty spent. I needed to energise myself so I drank a lot of coffee and belted some Elton during dishes.

In "Tiny Dancer" Elton sings:

"Hold me closer, Tiny Dancer.

Count the headlights on the highway.

Lay me down in sheets of linen.

You've had a busy day today."

I love that line, because I imagine Elton cradling the Tiny Dancer as they are on the tour bus (they are on a band's tour bus because she is the "seamstress for the band") looking out of the window onto the dark highway. She is worn out and so is he. I don't think that Elton is up to any shenanigans by asking TD to "lay him down in sheets of linen". I think he's just pooped and wants to go to sleep in some comfy sheets. But he wants to know that TD is nearby.

My favourite scene from The Office is in the first episode from Season Two entitled "The Dundies" when Jim walks a drunken Pam back to her car after her having come close to admitting her feelings for him. A slightly chuffed, sweet Jim shuffles back to his car while this song plays in the background.

Not only do I find this song poetic, but I also find it hilarious. I like to imagine the Tiny Dancer as really tiny. As in: fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand tiny. Thumbellina tiny! If that were the case, how would the Tiny Dancer's minuscule arms fit around Elton's normal-sized body?

I am also glad that it is Elton and not the Tiny Dancer being lain down in the "sheets of linen". What if Elton laid her down in the sheets and she got lost in all that fabric!? Imagine Elton having to shake out the sheets in order to find her and the Dancer flying out and hitting the ceiling.

Alright guys. This has been ridiculous. I, like Elton, need to "lay me down". But I only have sheets of faded cotton.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

In my 21 years I have had little romantic drama. I am pretty much OK with this, because I know that as fun as romantic drama is to read about, it is usually very awkward for everyone. I would, of course, love to have men falling all over themselves for me, but this rarely happens. What happens instead is that I go along living my daily life and every once in a while a random member of the opposite sex will peel away from the general crowd worshipping at the feet of worthier women to pay me unwanted attention. In these situations I find myself bewildered and panicky. But there is also a part of me which realises that they are hilarious. That is why I shall share an early such instance with you today.

In the seventh grade my homeroom class split into two groups for foreign language classes. The English students got to stay in the class room and the German students had to move to the other seventh grade's classroom for that period. Somehow it happened that the German-learning half of the class had all the rowdy, most misbehaving kids in it. I am absolutely serious. This is in no way meant to be a political commentary or racial slur. It was just true. English class had Zuzka, Jana and Pepa who were all academic angels. German class contained Matěj, Patrik and Tomáš; none of whom wore deodorant.

Anyway, to continue with my story… My sweet friend Claire and I sat together at our desk as far away from our fellow German speakers as possible and usually had a lovely time drawing notes back and forth all throughout class. Claire and I were in German class because we were some of the only two Americans in our Czech school and we already spoke English.

After class we would gather our belongings and prepare to move back to our homeroom. At the same time, the other seventh grade class would be returning from English class. This is when Petr first spotted me. We must remember that in the seventh grade I was about thirteen. This was a period in my life when I accessorised primarily with home-made Sculpey beads. I had bushy hair and wore a long thin braid behind one ear in order to look like a Jedi padawan learner. Petr found me irresistible. (Or perhaps he had picked up on the Star Wars reference in my hairstyle and thought I had Jedi powers)

He would make a beeline to my desk every afternoon as I gathered my textbooks. His main flirtation tactic was to confiscate my pencil case. Then, while rifling through its contents, he would ask me questions about myself and try to look deep into my eyes. I would answer his questions curtly avoiding eye contact. I would try to leave the classroom quickly. But of course, I had to somehow snatch back my pencil case before I could leave. Once my pencil case was rescued, I would scuttle back to the safety of my own classroom so I could pass encoded notes to Claire about how weird and awkward Petr was.

Looking back on this chapter in my romantic history I see it with more perspective. Petr was a nice boy (for a thirteen-year-old). He was skinny and a little goofy, but nice and probably would have been fun to talk to. He was able to appreciate me despite my geekiness. I probably didn't need to be as repulsed and dramatic about his attentions as I was at the time. But then again, I was thirteen.

Monday, August 18, 2014

P.S. Sorry, the photos are such poor quality. I left my phone with the good camera at church and took these blurry guys with my webcam.

Watching Nacho Libre with Friends.

I saw it with my good friends. I had never seen it before. I laughed very hard. Perhaps I would not have laughed so much had I not been with such fun people. My favourite scene was about eating toast. Here's the link. Something about chastely crunching toast on a first date while wearing nightgowns cracks me up. Probably because I feel like it is the sort of thing Sheldon would dream up; "Lucy Rose, would you like to come to our apartment to make origami birds?"

Getting to Buy Post-It Notes, a Pen and Erasers.

There's a scene in one of my favourite novels The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West in which the mother and daughter buy a paper bag of raisins despite the fact that they are broke. They revel in the ability to purchase something that simple and dub it a luxury. I felt similarly about buying 20 erasers to cover the terrible erasers on all the pencils at our church. I also bought a felt-tip pen and Post-It notes for us to make flip-book animation. It felt like a "luxury" to buy those simple items.

I Had a Good Day At Work.

Self Explanatory.

Some Time to Walk with Sheldon.

"Yeah yeah. Stop being so gushy, Lucy Rose. BORING!"
"Well, So-reeeee! I really thought you would be more happy for me than this."

The Blue Shirt My Daddy Got Me. Thanks Dad!

I felt pretty and smart in the pretty blue shirt my dad bought for me when he visited a couple weeks ago. I sent him a selfie of myself in the shirt and he replied that I have always done well in blue. He sent me this photo of myself as a baby to prove it. I felt so loved. (Plus I was a pretty, dang cute baby.)

Saturday, August 16, 2014

For those of you who are just tuning in, I am doing a three part series where I post a list of the things I am thankful for each day. Go here for Part One.

Here is Part Two:

1.

"Are there tiny grease stains on that index card, Lucy? Gross!"

"Yes. I am a greasy person. Especially after running for the train in the heat!"

2.

The Cheerios were provided to myself and Sheldon by some kind friends. We ate them in the centre of our church gym at a long folding table. It was kind of like the scene from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones when Padme and Anakin have a romantic dinner. Anakin uses the Force to float pieces of space-pears onto Padme's fork (Check out this silly parody) Except in our version there was no Force. It was just me intermittently tossing Cheerios at Sheldon's face. He is a gentleman and never retaliates.

Anakin "Force-feeding" in Attack of the Clones

3.

After we failed to catch the train our friend Dan lent a hand. He let us borrow his truck and I was able to get to work on time. Sorry that I drew such a terrible truck.

Yesterday I told you that I was starting a three day series. The idea is that I post drawings (made on index cards) of the things I am thankful for each day.

I had some technical difficulty so I couldn't post the ones I made yesterday. Sorry for the delay (I know it was hard, guys. You are such a demanding group! Goodness.)

Here they are:

I think these formerly belonged to a 200 pound man.

For some reason my favourite mug lately is emblazoned with footballs.
I think it's the size of the mug which appeals. But it also could have some link the the man pants I have been wearing. Perhaps they belonged to a football player and now I can only drink coffee out of football mugs.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

I had a hard day today. Nothing concrete was wrong. I am in perfect health and my loved ones are mostly well and prospering. But I had a long shift at work and towards the end I found myself getting more and more flustered. I was and dropping things (more things than usual that is) and getting coffee orders wrong. I felt irritated and exhausted.

When I finished the shift Sheldon was waiting outside basking in the gorgeous evening sun. "Isn't this a beautiful evening?!" he asked perkily.

"Yes!" I barked. "But I should warn you that I am in a very bad mood!"

Poor guy. He was a model of grace and sweetness. He read to me from one of my favourite children;s books until my savage sir it was considerably soothed. I joked that he was like David playing the harp for the enraged King Saul in the Bible. I felt a lot better after that and we were able to have pleasant evening without my punching anyone or knocking things over.

But it is on these days when I feel so down for no reason (OK. I'll be straight with you. I might be PMS-ing. But this secret stays on the internet, OK?!) that I feel like I need to pause and remember all the things that the Lord has given me. I need to remind myself to stop and give thanks!

SO. I have decided to do a blog series. Yes, Folks. This is a concept I have picked up from the other blogs I like to read. Perhaps you have been following my 30 day doodle challenge. (Take a look at all of them here) This will be a doodle challenge within a doodle challenge. For three days I am going to post a list of drawings depicting the things for which I am thankful. I will draw all of them on index cards for uniformity's sake and post them here for you to see.

So without further ado . . . Let the series of doodles within a series of doodles begin!

Today I finished the cartoon for the orientation issue for the school newspaper. I went through several iterations before submitting the final draft. Here is the history.

1.

This was my first instinct sketch. It was just what came out of my pencil as I thought about making a cartoon welcoming Freshmen to school. I remember my feelings as a Freshman. I hand't realised that college has it's own complex culture and even subcultures, rituals and hierarchies. It was a surprise to me that I would have to learn to navigate this intricate, self-contained biosphere. I felt overwhelmed.

2.

I also distinctly remember feeling patronised by upperclassmen. This cartoon I think captures a little of that. I had also been perusing the work of William Stieg and that really rubbed off on me the day I drew this.

3.

This one is just silly. It is not particularly high-concept play on words. It is just a fun visual of a very earnest, weasel-faced intellectual man pushing a giant compass. I had fun drawing it.

4.

This was my most complex iteration. I went full-blown graphic novel with this one. It is very wordy (you probably can't even read the text with the terrible photo I have provided. Do not fear, you are not missing that much). There are a few nice visual moments. I like the gremlin at the bottom and the VHS tape. But all in all this was a bit much for a one-panel cartoon.

5.

So in the end I went back to my gut and tailored the first idea into this final version. I cleaned up the image using Photoshop and added the font. I think I would have made this into a vector project, had not Sheldon said that he really hoped I keep the sketchy, pencil look. I am just waiting for the print version to appear in a week or so!

So, do you have a favourite? Do you think I made the right choice, or should I have chosen a different version? I'd love to know your thoughts, even though it is too late to change.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Lately I have had the song "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in my head. I drew this drawing because I was inspired by the line:

"O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!"

Here are all the lyrics:

1

What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!

2

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer.Can we find a friend so faithful Who will all our sorrows share?Jesus knows our every weakness, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

3

Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care?Precious Savior, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer;Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer;In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Saturday, August 9, 2014

I babysat some kids from church this evening. I had a lot of fun making crafts with them and watching Richard Scarry shows. I also had a blissful few hours of alone time when they went to bed. I used the time to sketch the kitchen. I have been feeling like I need to brush up on drawing spaces and rooms.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Today at work (I work at a coffee shop) I majorly flooded the back kitchen.

I forgot to turn off the water when I was filling the mop bucket.

Sigh.

Thankfully my co-worker was so kind about it. "No worries. This has definitely happened before." This is hard for me to believe. Or at least I have trouble believing that it has ever been as bad as today. There was at least an inch and a half of water. You can even see some of the water trickling into the frame of the photo below!

ANYWAY.

Before all this happened my same co-worker was doing some sign-writing and she made a bunch of paint flecks on the floor with the paint markers we use for the menu boards. I drew a cartoon of her below them.

The other day you asked if you should by a drying rack or did I already have one. I thought it would be helpful to post an illustrated list of the useful household items I do have. All that I am able to share with you I offer freely. I look forward to being your roommate!

Monday, August 4, 2014

Sorry, I am late with these! I had posted these sketches on Instagram yesterday, but hadn't realized I had forgotten to post them on my blog.

These are some crude pencil drawings I made in the kitchen of a dear friend as she prepared a beautiful meal for me and my visiting father. The theme if her kitchen is"roosters". Roosters are everywhere! Painted on the teapot, on the dishrags, hanging off the walls: everywhere! Can you spot the rooster in my still life?